Inverleith Park is one of Edinburgh's largest urban parks spanning 22 hectares with the status of ‘premier park’. Via minimal online research, it is soon realised that most of the pictures of the park will be one of three things pictured in the images below: A photo was taken from the park, but of the view of the city skyline, A photo of the pond or a photo looking down the lime tree avenue. However, these photos comprise not even a quarter of the site, with it extending northwards from the pond.
Unfortunately, the remainder of the park is tired, undefined and suffers from surface flooding. The main strengths are the strong mature trees avenues and border, the broadleaved woodland and the space associated with the maintenance yard. The main weaknesses are the undefined space, surface flooding and low biodiversity. An additional challenge is the sense of protectiveness over the changing of the park by the people who enjoy it how it currently is.
By using Inverleith Park as a case study in my dissertation and then carrying it over as the focus park for my final year project, I got an idea of how research can inform planning and design.
Therefore the brief was:
Therefore, the objective is to demonstrate how a premier park can be improved for all user groups (human and non-human) in a way that is sensitive to the love people have for the park and the future of the space in mind regarding the climate crisis and Edinburgh’s 2030 net-zero goal.
A new view of Inverleith park transforms the park into a space where all areas are worth photographing and where the view out of the site is not the only beautiful one. The familiar structure many people have grown to love remains, but the internals becomes more dynamic. With a multitude of users (human and non) and activities catered for. As well as maintaining open and unprogrammed space for leisure and events. Although in an affluent area, the park becomes a hub for many activities for young people, taking advantage of the n new free for under 22’s travel in Edinburgh.
